Games and Bussiness Question (PLZ help)

I am interested in learning how to program games. When I finally finish my game can I realistically live off of the income produced by the sales of my game.

I am not sure how to market my game either… A friend of mine told me that I can put a shareware version of my game on http://www.download.com to promote and sell full versions of my game. Is this true??

I already know C++ and I am learning OpenGL and DirectX, Is there anything else I need to know before I start programming games??

Hey there…knowledge of the general software engineering/design processes are essential if you’re serious…believe it or not, a good design can be more important (and time consuming) than any coding…

Additionally, games today are more than just graphics…remotely good games have some aspect of AI, story/script etc…

There are plenty of talented coders/artist/story writers out there, but they are pretty much in limbo unless they somehow collaborate with each other…

…hope this helps…

Tin

I just read an interesting, albiet a bit pessemistic, 2 part article on this very subject over at gamasutra. It talks about how to get started in the games industry, including developmant and production.

Part I: http://www.gamasutra.com/features/game_design/19981211/get_started1.htm

Part II: http://www.gamasutra.com/features/game_design/19981218/get_started2.htm

Here is another interesting article I read, an interview with Tim Sweeney. He basically talks about how he started out with a little shareware application called Jill of the Jungle about 9 years ago at Epic. Well I’m sure you know how successful he is now. Just wanted to offset the harsh tone of the previous article links I provided, though I think both articles are an important read.

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20010406/foreman_01.htm

Good Luck!

[This message has been edited by element (edited 09-23-2001).]